Poll: Do you have, or plan to get, an electric car?

[mac_1103]

11% of the fleet is "all in"?

 

[Thorrak]

11% of the fleet is "all in"?

11% of the fleet is still a large enough chunk to be both notable, and to require changes in their business practices! We rented from them last year while travelling in Europe, and they kept reaching out asking if we'd be willing to take an EV. It felt very much like they were underbooked on EVs and trying to do what they could to get someone to take one.

When supercharging our Tesla near DC a few months back we had someone park in the charging stall next to us who had just rented a Model 3 from Hertz for a cross-country trek to Montana. They hadn't checked about hotel charging, and were clueless as to how to search for superchargers along their route - relying on Google Maps on their phones. I'm going to guess that they ended the trip turned off to EVs.

 

[whoaru99]

The Hertz agent was quite helpful when I rented a Tesla. Came to the car with me and gave a pretty decent walkthrough. I had already done lots of operating research in advance so I was reasonably good to go regardless.

But, I rented from a neighborhood store not a busy airport, and when they asked if I'd driven a Tesla I said No.

If someone never read up or didn't get a decent walkthrough, it could be challenging to try to figure it all out on the fly on a timeline.

 

[Rodent]

I wonder if these Hertz Teslas will become the 'Rent a Racer' GT350 H Mustang collector cars of the future

 

[Agent]

Not everything Hertz becomes a collectible.

 

[whoaru99]

I wonder if these Hertz Teslas will become the 'Rent a Racer' GT350 H Mustang collector cars of the future

Maybe if they had Plaid models for rental with a Hertz special paint scheme.

 

[whoaru99]

I wonder if these Hertz Teslas will become the 'Rent a Racer' GT350 H Mustang collector cars of the future

I rented this two or three years ago. My guess is they're collectable.

Hertz-Hendrick ZL1 Camaro. 6.2L supercharged, 750 horsepower.

I had #5 of 24.

 

[sibelman]

More charging infrastructure coming.

 

[Rodrigue Planck]

Hertz, selling 33% of their EVs and buying gas.

 

[day_trippr]

"Tell us you didn't read the thread yesterday without saying you didn't read the thread yesterday"

Cheers!

 

[tracer bullet]

Hertz, selling 33% of their EVs and buying gas.

True. Why? What are your thoughts about it?

 

[tracer bullet]

It's the drive-by deposits with no actual personal opinions on them that drive me nuts. Don't just share the article, try and also share an opinion about it.

 

[Kent88]

They hadn't checked about hotel charging, and were clueless as to how to search for superchargers along their route

What are some good resources for finding hotels with chargers? I think I once found a hotel-mode on PlugShare, but I wasn't really impressed with what they were showing. No obvious distinction between hotels where there happens to be a public charging station nearby, or if you would have to be staying at the hotel to use it. Also, it was really easy to fat-thumb out of that viewing mode.

The myChevrolet (/OnStar) app has sort of a trip planner, but oh my is that app frustrating, as it seems to time out and require a new login every 5 minutes. Definitely not something to just load up on the road with 35% charge remaining in the vehicle and expect to have good results. But even before I bought this BEV I already had a few charging stations in mind along my most frequent "road trip" paths, so that isn't a feature I needed from them (although I wouldn't turn it down if they could fix a few bugs!).

 

[tracer bullet]

https://www.motortrend.com/news/her...e we (and others,its total EV fleet globally.
"Many of the EVs that Hertz owns are used for its rideshare rental program with companies like Uber.... ...The instigating factor seems to have been repair costs for rideshare EVs, which were much higher than expected. This is not maintenance costs, which Hertz notes are lower than ICE vehicles, but rather collision repair costs."

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46340514/ev-sales-are-just-getting-started/
"There's just one little problem: Last year, U.S. sales of EVs were the highest ever, both in sheer numbers and as a percentage of the overall new-car market. Global sales: ditto. The EV Sales Tracker from EVadoption estimates nearly 1.2 million battery-electric vehicles and another 190,000 plug-in hybrids were sold in 2023, totaling 1.36 million vehicles. That's 8.8 percent of the total of 15.5 million, per Wards Intelligence—and it represents EVs' highest-ever share of new-car sales. Moreover, 2024 is expected to set another new record for volume of EVs sold and their share of the total market. Colin McKerracher of Bloomberg projects 2024 EV sales in the U.S. at just under 1.9 million units, making up 13 percent of new-car purchases. This year should see fewer of the supply constraints that hobbled availability over the last four years. Depending on a host of factors, some analysts suggest overall vehicle sales could be 1 million vehicles or more higher than last year."

I thought it might be fun to share some news that put EV's in a good light for a change. Funny thing is I don't own one, don't expect to own one anytime soon, and don't actually car a lot. But I wondered if certain others might entertain an actual discussion after seeming to have dropped off a Hertz article, I can only guess to imply that EV's were just terrible, awful, no good and very bad.

 

[Thorrak]

"Many of the EVs that Hertz owns are used for its rideshare rental program with companies like Uber.... ...The instigating factor seems to have been repair costs for rideshare EVs, which were much higher than expected. This is not maintenance costs, which Hertz notes are lower than ICE vehicles, but rather collision repair costs."

Can confirm. We got rear ended a few months after getting the MY:

This was the extent of the damage. This was $14k to repair.

Now: To be VERY clear, this has NOTHING to do with being an EV, and everything to do with Tesla's design choices in particular. The problem is that the back hatch had to be replaced along with the bumper.

 

[Kent88]

Did insurance cover a lot of it?

 

[Thorrak]

Did insurance cover a lot of it?

Yeah - 100% of it, and most of the rental car bill for the ~month we were without the car since at the time Tesla was prioritizing new builds over making replacement parts available.

 

[tracer bullet]

Bummer, didn't think about that aspect of repairs. It's easy to assume all cars are built in similar ways and it's reasonably easy to swap things. Tesla's always been different, for better or worse. Some of each I guess.

 

[Kent88]

Yeah, I don't know if it's an EV specific thing or if it's all vehicles, but I have heard of a few makers that are trying to reduce the number of parts by casting larger pieces of the body.

It makes some sense, as it should take fewer people to assemble the vehicle, but it also makes it so any ding costs more to fix.

 

[whoaru99]

Can confirm. We got rear ended a few months after getting the MY:

This was the extent of the damage. This was $14k to repair.

Did insurance cover a lot of it?

I'm going to guess Hertz is self-insured so it's not hard to understand why they might want to pare down that part of the fleet with potential hits like that.

 

[oakbarn]

Yeah, I don't know if it's an EV specific thing or if it's all vehicles, but I have heard of a few makers that are trying to reduce the number of parts by casting larger pieces of the body.

It makes some sense, as it should take fewer people to assemble the vehicle, but it also makes it so any ding costs more to fix.

I remember chunky 5 mph bumpers. Bring those back and the cost would have been $0! Gas or EV.

 

[Bilsch]

Can confirm. We got rear ended a few months after getting the MY:

This was the extent of the damage. This was $14k to repair.

I can't see how this is much different then a Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche ect. They all cost huge dollars to fix, even small stuff.

To me this is similar to the other edge cases that are tossed about to scare people away from EV adoption. I mean how many people will actually get in an accident? Has to be a pretty low percent. I've personally only had 4 accidents in my 45 years of driving.
Meanwhile with gas you are 100% going to pay 3-5 times more for fuel with 100% chance it is going to cost a lot more for PM maintenance.

Personally I'll take the save money every day option because the odds are better.

 

[PCABrewing]

I assume that battery temperature management adds weight and cost, and helps most in extreme climates (e.g. Arizona, Savonlinna). Conversely, less valuable in moderate climates (e.g. Portland, OR).

Might not matter much: unlike cabin features like heated seats, it's probably impractical for manufacturers to offer battery temperature management as an option.

Early battery development (70s & 80s) focusing on automotive applications included LiAl/FeS designs that had to operate at 450c. Talk about temperature management overhead

Fortunately today's batteries are exponentially better both in cycles and environmental tolerance. But they still need to be kept warm enough and part of the current drain is the need to heat themselves if they get too cold and that costs power.
So while a garaged vehicle might not notice the winter in the northern states, a carport vehicle won't be so lucky and could deplete its' charge quite a bit.
Use case makes a big difference.

 

[oakbarn]

Anyone who has worked on a farm knows what a cold battery means! I was just out heating the battery of my tractor to get it to turn over (and use some power to heat the diesel). One of my issues beside range, is size. We carry up to 7 on some trips (two small ones) but 5 adult size and there is no EV that comes close. It is hard to find even with gas. We have a KIA Telluride which is the best car we have ever owned that can do it. We would love to have a Hybrid that could. Years ago, we thought about a hybrid, but even with the subsidies, gas would have had to been over $5.54 to break even after 6 years at our normal driving. And we could not take all the people we normally would. Based on our own needs, it simply will not work.

I personally no longer drive (years) and wish there was more reliable public transport, I live in the DFW metroplex, but outlying and not easy to get to a pickup places (miles). When I do get on a commuter train, I am surprised how little they are used.

 

[PCABrewing]

I remember chunky 5 mph bumpers. Bring those back and the cost would have been $0! Gas or EV.

I was a dealer mechanic in the 70s and 80s. Those things had hydraulic cylinders that they mounted to. It was not unusual for a car that was hit to have them ruined and in need of replacement, and the cylinders were not cheap. The bumper could be fine, maybe a scratch to the chrome but the impact absorption cylinders would be collapsed with their oil dripping out.
Frequently people would just pull the bumper back out. They looked fine, didn't incur the replacement cost but the impact protection was gone.
So while it wasn't free, it was still cheaper than today with the molded covers and honeycomb impact absorption matrices. Modern design is sacrificial in the pursuit of occupant protection and they do a darn good job of that.
BTW that is not an EV-specific thing, it has been going on for decades. Take a look at Corvettes from ~1973 on to today.
And I would not be surprised if the same repair cost the same or double on a luxury import.

 

[Kent88]

Anyone who has worked on a farm knows what a cold battery means! I was just out heating the battery of my tractor to get it to turn over (and use some power to heat the diesel).

I can think of plenty of evenings where my dad had to go plug in a heater pointed at the front of a tractor because he wanted to use it the next day.

One of my issues beside range, is size. We carry up to 7 on some trips (two small ones) but 5 adult size and there is no EV that comes close. It is hard to find even with gas.

We would also really like a 7 passenger vehicle. I was looking hard at the Rivian R1S for a minute, but remembered that the next vehicle we get will probably also end up as mini-me's first vehicle. No teenage kid needs to be driving around a vehicle he can cram 6 or 7 buddies into. That's a recipe for trouble.

 

[PCABrewing]

Anyone who has worked on a farm knows what a cold battery means! I was just out heating the battery of my tractor to get it to turn over (and use some power to heat the diesel).

Did you ever use the trashcan lid (metal) loaded with burning charcoal slipped under the engine to warm the oil (and everything else) so that you could get the engine to crank?

 

[PCABrewing]

We would also really like a 7 passenger vehicle. I was looking hard at the Rivian R1S for a minute, but remembered that the next vehicle we get will probably also end up as mini-me's first vehicle. No teenage kid needs to be driving around a vehicle he can cram 6 or 7 buddies into. That's a recipe for trouble.

My wife just traded in her Subaru Outback (talk about high cost of ownership) for a Highlander Hybrid AWD.
She was just looking for the similar cargo and people carrying of the Outback but the Highlander met and exceeded her requirements. It is seven passenger, tows 3K pounds and has room for the dog crate for weekend events.
Fortunately all the mini-me's are out of the house but your caution is appreciated.
She works at the hospital and cannot call-in for snow days so the AWD met the needs.
So-far pretty happy with it and fuel mileage beats the Outback which was surprisingly good for AWD.
Beats my Corolla by a couple MPG.
Can't say we could go pure EV yet.

 

[Kent88]

The rumors about the R2S have started already. It's supposed to be a 5 seater, and be available in '27. If that doesn't get delayed, I would love to test drive it. My better half might balk at giving up the Stellantis-Chrystler vehicle, as that's the brand her family prefer, but that company is dragging it's heels going full BEV, and I really want a BEV with AWD & a frunk.

If charging networks are much improved by then, Jeep doesn't have a good option (AWD, either a BEV with over 300mi* per full charge, or a PHEV with 50-70 miles on a full charge and a range extender with better efficiency than 32mpg), and Rivian is doing well getting their R2S out on schedule, I might push the issue a little, but I doubt she'll go for it. A test drive would be fun, though.

*Reserving the right to increase this depending on towing range and how charging networks expand

 

[Airborneguy]

Im hellbent on a rivian pickup once i know they’re gonna stick around like Tesla.